Baby Blues
by Perhapsormaybe
Summary: It's a typical classroom project - take care of a baby doll for one week. But tensions run high when most of the kids are partnered with their absolute last choices.
1. Chapter 1

"As far as modern inventors go, Nikola Tesla is arguably one of the more over looked, yet talented inventors. Cindy?"

Cindy nodded her agreement. She and Jimmy were in front of the class, having basically commandeered the class away from Miss Fowl for yet another extra credit report. "Admittedly, it was a shame that Thomas Edison, though brilliant in his own right, worked so hard to keep Tesla from the fame he deserved. I may have to recant on my recent report this year that claimed Marconi invented radio. Jimmy?"

"To expand on Cindy's point, Tesla had an unfortunate lab fire which resulted in the loss of his equipment. It happened in the same year as Marconi released his own research on radio waves, 1895."

"You have got to be kidding me," Nick was about a second away from banging his head on the desk in his boredom.

Cindy and Jimmy exchanged looks. "No, really, it happened. It seems really unfair, doesn't it?" Jimmy nodded, thinking that Nick was agreeing with his point.

"No, I mean this is what the ….twentieth time this month you two eggheads have given extra credit reports. Do either one of you even need the credit?! You must have, like, a 130 average in this class by now."

"Watch it," Cindy growled. "One of these 'eggheads' knows several different forms of martial arts!"

"We're just trying to help you guys get the most of your education. Miss Fowl doesn't seem to mind. Do you, Miss-" Jimmy finally realized the teacher was gently snoring, her head on her desk. He scanned the class only to notice that most of the class looked much the same, including his two best friends. Libby was one of the few who was still awake, but she looked just as bored as Nick did.

"Um, Cindy, maybe we should give the floor back to our appointed educator?"

"Yeah, looks about time." She gave a loud whistle, enough to wake all but Carl from their naps. "We're done now, Miss Fowl."

"It's aaa-booou-tt time. Bawk! What I mean to say, Cindy and Jimmy, is that as informative as these reports are, perhaps we should focus on the rest of the class for the day? Besides, we have an extra special project we'll be starting for today. It's very important. It will account for about 20% of your grades. BAWK! CARL, WAKE UP!"

Carl gave a snort and sat up straight. He looked embarrassed, but said nothing.

Nick seemed to be considering something in the back of the room. Last week, Miss Fowl had pointed out to him that he was dangerously close to failing this year, and for once being smooth talking and cool had not convinced her to float the few extra points he needed to pass. Partnering with Cindy or Jimmy should guarantee him an A on the project, with minimal work on his part. His hand shot into the air.

"Nick...are you feeling all right?" Miss Fowl had never in the entire year with Nick seen the young man raise his hand for anything. He either just left the room or spoke up when he felt the need or wish to.

"Yeah, I just wanted to point out – it wouldn't really be fair for Neutron and Cindy to partner on this project, right? I mean, how would that be fair to the rest of us?"

"Well, I had actually already considered that, Nick." Miss Fowl allowed herself a small smile. "While it is a partnered project, I will be choosing the pairings at complete random by use of this coffee can!" She grabbed the can off the desk and shook it dramatically.

"Cool!" Sheen leaned on the edge of his chair. "Does that coffee can tell the future?"

Miss Fowl resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "No, Sheen. I have everyone's names here in the can and will be drawing the names completely at random."

"Ok, before we find out who exactly we're doomed to have to either carry or be dragged down, don't we have a right to know what this project is?" Cindy crossed her arms. "I mean, sure, I understand me and Neutron not partnering, but what's the big deal with me and Libby teaming up?"

"Now, now, Cindy, I have to give everyone a fighting chance. This will be at complete random. But I suppose it -bawk! - is only fair to let you know what the project is." Miss Fowl reached behind her desk and produced a box of what looked like plastic baby dolls.

"Look, Sheen, maybe you can pretend your Ultra Lord doll had babies!" Nick called.

"He's not a doll, he's an action figure! ...But he would also make an excellent dad."

"You will be partnered at random," Miss Fowl had chosen to ignore the interruption. "and will be taking care of the dolls together, including filling out questionnaires regarding how you've chosen to raise the baby and a time log to prove on person isn't doing all of the work."

Libby eyed the dolls with suspicion. "And what exactly is going to be so hard about this?"

"This!" Miss Fowl pressed a button on the back of one of the dolls. It immediately started crying. "Once activated, they can only be turned off by figuring out why the doll is crying. Food, changing or comfort. And don't even think of turning the doll off, the internal system tracks everything. And Jimmy, that includes tampering with it."

"Gas planets," Jimmy muttered under his breath.

"This assignment will last from after I finish partnering you to 10 AM next Monday. So, be prepared to give a paper on your experiences exactly one week from today. Now, for the pairings," Miss Fowl once again shook the can before grabbing the first two slips of paper. "Jimmy and...Libby!"

Jimmy let out a sigh of relief. While Libby wouldn't be his first choice, she was definitely preferable to many of the other options in class.

"Cindy and Sheen,"

Sheen and Cindy both let out groans. "Miss Fowl, I have to object! I mean...my partner probably doesn't agree with the system of attachment parenting!" Cindy complained.

"You want to attach what to what?!" Sheen look of incense matched Cindy's. "I demand a switch! A trade! Cruel and unusual punishment was banned in this country a long time ago!"

"Sheen, working with Cindy is basically a guaranteed A," Jimmy pointed out. "You kind of need that sort of grade to make sure you don't repeat a grade. Again." He was trying to think of a bright point for Cindy working with Sheen, but he was having a hard time figuring out one that would convince Cindy. "And Cindy he uh...he tries."

"I'll trade with Sheen," Nick offered.

"No trades!" Miss Fowl snapped. "Now...Nick and ...Carl!"

"C—Carl?!" Nick sputtered. "But he's a dude! Can't I at least partner with a chick?"

"This is 2015, Nick, get with the times," Sheen snickered.

"Plus, I did tell you that this was completely at random," Miss Fowl pointed out. "I'm sorry, but as I said previously there will no be trades. Brittany, you're with Bolbi. Emily, you're with Emma. Oleander, you're with Butch."

"This is going to be one long week." Sheen muttered, as most of the class voiced their agreement.

**Author's Note: **I think it's very important for friends to be ok with your relationship. This story mainly came from me wondering what would happen if you forced Sheen and Cindy to work together. And the idea of Carl and Nick having to work together just seemed like fun to me.


	2. Ultra Baby

**Author's Note: **It seems that Jimmy and Cindy actually being fairly agreeable threw some people for a loop last chapter. This is supposed to take place after the end of the series, so the pair are a couple. That being said, they will still fight, including in this story. Maybe a bit more than is healthy – but I do think that once they were able to admit how they felt, they could be a bit more friendly (League of Villains, Stranded, Lady Sings the Blues). League of Villains and Lady Sings the Blues probably as the best examples as they don't seem to mind as much that other people are seeing them being affectionate, provided no one makes fun of them for it.

Cindy looked dejected as she entered the bus, trailing more slowly behind Libby than she normally would have. She sighed before taking her seat. "Great, all that hard work and now your boyfriend's going to completely tank my grade point average."

Libby resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Ok, first off, girl you know that you could get a C or lower and you will still have at least a B plus, but more likely an A minus average, given all those extra credit reports, and-"

"But it won't be good enough! I need A pluses or I might have to go to a," Cindy shuddered, "state college!"

Libby ignored the interruption. "And second, Sheen's really not so bad if you give him the chance. He's a sweet guy, really." The bus pulled up to the curb and both girls got off. "Jimmy give the guys a ride home?"

Cindy nodded. "I think they're commiserating as well, and Neutron took his hover craft this morning. Looks like they're running late, but I have to go over to Sheen's house in ten minutes." Libby raised an eyebrow. "What? He wasn't willing to go to my house. And someone told me I don't compromise well."

"Or learn not to take everything as a challenge," Libby smirked. "Was Jimmy the one who told you that?"

"No, you did. Several times. You meeting up with Jimmy or is he coming to you?"

"Coming to me. I am not chancing that his laboratory is going to interfere with how this baby doll works." Libby examined the doll closely. "Where's yours at?"

Cindy grimaced. "Sheen said he wanted first watch. It's only ten minutes, but I can feel my future getting dimmer by the second."

"You're exaggerating. I'm telling you, this is going to be fine."

"Sure is is." Cindy's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'll text you every time I think about strangling him."

Libby checked her cell phone and deleted a few messages to make space in the inbox. "I am really glad I have unlimited messaging, then."

* * *

Cindy was right that the boys were also complaining. "But I'm not cool enough to pair with Nick! Our kid will be a social outcast because he'll be confused about his identity!" Carl panicked. "Is coolness a dominant trait?"

Jimmy considered it. "I don't know. It's probably recessive, though."

"At least you got someone cool," Sheen cut in. "Cindy would be my absolutely last choice as a wife. And that includes Carl in a wig!"

Jimmy ignored the insult at his girlfriend's expense. Not that long ago he would have been making the same sort of complaint, anyway (well, maybe sans Carl in a wig). "This week is going to tank," Sheen crossed his arms and sunk into his seat.

Jimmy landed the hover craft in his back yard and hopped out. "Look, guys, I promise this isn't going to be as bad as you think it is. Text me and tell me how it's going. And I can look over you guys' papers before you turn them in. ...Uh, Sheen, didn't you tell Cindy you were taking the first turn with the baby?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because it's not there," Carl pointed out. "You've been cuddling one of your Ultra Lord figures the whole ride back."

"Dang it!" Sheen seemed to consider something for a moment. "Well, the week will probably go a lot faster if Cindy kills me before the project even starts."

Jimmy sighed. "Get back in the hover car, Sheen. We'll go get the doll back."

"It's not a doll, it's an action figure!"

"Sheen, I mean the doll for the assignment."

"Sorry. Habit."

* * *

"Ok, so we need to-" Libby increased her volume. She couldn't hear Jimmy over the loud wail the baby doll was emitting and she was certain he couldn't hear her either. "figure out why it's crying!"

"What?"

"WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHY IT'S CRYING!"

"NO, I DOUBT IT'S DYING, IT JUST PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE COMFORTED!"

Libby let out a long breathe before picking the doll up and rocking it. It didn't quiet. She put the key in the mouth that was supposed to signify feeding, but that didn't work either. "She must need to be changed!" This she could tell Jimmy heard, as he suddenly made a face.

"I don't know how to do that."

Libby put a hand on her hip. "Well, you're about to learn, cause I am not doing it every time." Thankfully the doll did not have a function that allowed it to mimic actual waste, so all that had to be done was to remove the diaper and put it back on. She pulled the diaper off, shook it around a few times and then expertly replaced it. "I used to help change my brother," she explained as the baby started to quiet. "All right, I guess we can start the questionnaire now: First...what is your baby's name?"

"Hmm...Albert, Thomas, Neil, Alan or Carl?"

"You want to name it after your best friend? That's kind of nice."

"What? No! After Carl Saigan."

"Ok, all of those are out. Who says this is a boy, anyway? We could go with a girl's name. Like Desiree or Christina or-"

"And why does it have to be a girl?"

"Ok, I thought we were all over the cooties stage. How about this? It's a girl, but you can name her."

"Hedy."

"Gesundheit."

"Ha ha," It was Jimmy's turn to roll his eyes. "Hedy Lamarr was an actress who was also an inventor," he pulled out his cell phone and did a quick internet search. "See?"

"She was pretty. All right, Hedy it is." Libby penciled in her answer for the first question. "Ok, next question- who is the primary care giver?"

"Gas planets, this is boring. Aren't there any more important questions on there? Like, calculating IQ or we could figure out which of our features she'd most likely have. I think I have a few punnet square maps around here somewhere..."

"Or we could focus on the actual questions?"

"Oh! Maybe I could build something that anticipates the child's needs so we don't have to waste time looking for the source. Perhaps if I modified my Neutron Encepholo-synthesizer..."

Libby was starting to think that maybe Jimmy wouldn't be the best partner for this. And her phone was violently vibrating in a way that could only say Cindy had already thought of multiple complaints from her time with Sheen.

* * *

Sheen had recovered the doll with no problems, but he wasn't about to tell Cindy that he'd lost the baby for any point of time. She'd practically snatched it from his hands as soon as he'd opened the door to let her in. "All right, we have eye witnesses that I came by, no one can claim you weren't involved and now I'll just be going back to my place to do the report on my own."

"I don't think we're allowed to do that."

"And I think that you should button your trap. I am not getting a B on this report, do you get me?! Which means I will do all the work and you will just say the lines I give you when we do the class report. _Capisce_?"

"I don't speak German."

Cindy sputtered for a moment. "German? I..._nein_" she rolled her eyes.

"I want to help," Sheen admitted, decidedly not making eye contact. "Everyone says I can't do it, and thinks I'm dumb but I'm not that bad. I can do this."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"No reason," Sheen insisted. Cindy scanned the living room, surprised by how clean it was. She had expected to at least see Ultra Lord dolls scattered all over the floor. "Who's that woman?" she asked finally, jerking her thumb at a picture on the mantle.

"My mom."

Cindy practically deflated. She remembered that Sheen's mom had passed – she'd been in class with him when he got the news, back in kindergarten. "Oh. Uh...new topic. I guess we should get started with this report."

"Ultra son!"

"Oh what now?!" Cindy complained. "Can't we just get started?"

Sheen's father had heard the door open and rushed out to greet his son. "How was school today?"

"It was ok, dad."

"You and your guest want flurp?" Mr. Estevez studied Cindy for a while. "What happened to the other girlfriend? Libby, I think?" he patted Sheen on the back. "Too much of a ladies man?"

For once, Cindy and Sheen were on the same page. Both looked thoroughly sickened by the idea. "No, we're just doing a project together. Libby is still my number one lady. Cindy is...Cindy."

"And no thank you on the flurp, Mr. Estevez. We really need to get -"

Before she could finish, the baby started wailing.

"Ah, I know this project," Mr Estevez nodded. "I'll let you get to it." He grabbed himself a flurp and headed back into his own room.

Cindy pulled the baby into her arms gently and started rocking. She got lucky on the first try – it calmed down and stopped crying. "Ok, let's get on with the questions. Question one...name?"

"Ult-"

"We are _not _naming a baby Ultra Lord. Or Ultra Baby or Ultra _anything_. Got it?"

"Got it. But Ultra Lord's secret identity name is-"

"Don't care, we're not using it! She looks like a Bethany to me."

"Aww, man, I don't want a girl. It looks like a boy."

"It does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

The pair went back and forth on the same argument for more than ten minutes. Cindy growled at Sheen when she realized how much time had passed, but rather than tear him to shreds she pulled out her phone and texted Libby.

_Annoying me to no end. Haven't been able to answer the first question because we cannot agree on gender. _

She waited for a moment, then heard the familiar sound of a Boys to Now song that meant she had received a text.

_Girl, if you can't get over that you're never going to finish the project. Bite the bullet now or you might fail._

It wasn't what Cindy wanted to hear, but it did have a sobering effect on her. "All right, fine, it's a boy. But we're naming it what I want. He's Eric."

"All right," Sheen conceded. "Question two: who is the primary care giver?"

"Well, obviously you would be as I'd be too busy at my job as either a research scientist or a lawyer. ...I'm still keeping my options open."

"Aww, man, so you'd leave me at home to change diapers all day?! No way, I work and you take care of the baby. That's how it goes, you're trying to turn against tradition!"

They went back and forth for multiple minutes again before Cindy finally decided she'd had enough and wanted to leave. Besides, each time they fought the baby started crying again. "We'll pick this up again tomorrow."

"But we didn't even make it through question two and there are still fifty more!"

"I said," Cindy spoke through clenched teeth, "we will pick this up tomorrow. Come by my house immediately after school. And Eric is coming with me."

* * *

_Your girlfriend is a controlling nut job, _Sheen texted

_She's not that bad. Give her a chance. You just need to find some common ground_, Jimmy responded

_I have nothing in common with her. Except you. And you're not my partner on this project. How's it going with Libby?_

Jimmy frowned at the text. Libby was a nice girl, but she was having absolutely none of his attempts at making the project more interesting or at least more scientifically inclined. _It goes_ he finally settled on. _I gotta go. It's dinner time. Remember: find some common ground._

**_Author's Note:_ **Slow going at the beginning, but I doubt Sheen and Cindy would immediately click and be able to work together. There has to be a build up. Libby and Jimmy usually get along quite well, but I'm sure being the only one of her friends who is really down to earth gets tiring for Libby sometimes.


	3. Daddy Issues

Nick wasn't sure just how long his mouth had been open, but it was starting to feel dry. He couldn't help it, though – Carl was, in a word, amazing with the baby assignment. Nick had only heard the thing cry for seconds each time before Carl figured out the problem and solved it.

"So, what are we naming him?" Carl finally said after he finished changing the diaper that had caused the latest bout of fussiness. Nick finally shut his mouth.

"I don't know, dude. Just nothing dorky.."

"Ok, he looks like a Thurston to me..."

"No. Gonna veto that one. I _said_ nothing dorky." Nick leaned back in his chair and let his feet rest on the table. He had agreed to go to the Wheezer house, despite how uncool it was, because it was easier than going to his own place. And he figured the less arguing over the assignment, the better.

"Brad?" Carl suggested after a moment of consideration. Nick shrugged his consent. "Ok, little Braddie! It's time to go for walkies!"

"Walkies? Dude, could you be any more lame?!"

"Could you get your feet off the table? I just cleaned there!" Carl pushed Nick's feet down and glared at him. "I stayed home with the baby all day, I'm tired, and you just can't help, can you? Always thinking of yourself! Maybe I want a divorce!"

"Chill. This is not real. We should probably start the questionnaire. We already got the name and you just said you were the one who mainly stays with the baby – which I've got no issue with, believe me. Third question, 'How are you socializing your baby'? What? Our kid's gonna be too cool to have to socialize."

"But proper social skills are important! That's why I've set up a Mommy and Baby class with Libby and Cindy for this afternoon."

"I am not going to that."

"Of course not. You're not the mommy."

* * *

Cindy knocked at the entrance to Jimmy's lab and braced herself as the mat fell away to drop her in. "Seriously, Neutron, either put down a pillow or just let me in the same way you let the guys in."

"Sorry. Force of habit," Jimmy shrugged and pulled Cindy to her feet. "Where's the baby?"

"Eric is with Ultra Dork. Yours?"

Jimmy jerked a thumb over his shoulder where the baby was in Goddard's usual resting spot. Goddard was regarding the doll curiously, letting out short barks occasionally. "Goddard's trying to figure out some of the parameters for how it functions."

"Didn't Miss Fowl tell you no modifications?"

"I'm not modifying it. I'm just scanning it...for now," Jimmy added the last part in a whisper. "I'm glad to hear you're letting Sheen spend time with the baby, though. You finally starting to trust him?"

"No way. But we've got a contract drawn up that explicitly states we will share responsibilities fifty fifty. I have a Mommy thing with Libby and Carl later today."

"Yeah, Libby told me about th—Carl? Carl is going to be there?"

"It was his idea, actually," Cindy shrugged. "When's the last time you fed your kid?"

"I don't know."

"Well, when was ...his or her last changing?"

"Her name is Hedy. And I don't know, probably when Libby last did it."

Cindy rolled her eyes. "And have you picked it up at all since she left Hedy with you?" her tone was disgusted. "Are you really just going to make Libby do all the work?"

"I have important things to do, Cindy. Playing with dolls is not one of them. Hydroquantum energy? Important. Changing a fake diaper? Not important."

"I can't believe you. This is practice for the real world. Is this how you're going to treat your kids? 'I'd love to play with you, kids'," Cindy deepened her voice to imitate Jimmy, "'but daddy is too busy trying to prove that electrons are what makes you fat!'"

"That is ridiculous!"

"Oh?"

"Electrons can't make people fat, Vortex, that doesn't even make sense."

"Neutron, are you seriously not going to put any work into this? It's a school assignment, don't you at least care about that?"

"It is the most ridiculous assignment we've had – and that includes the time Carl convinced Miss Fowl to make us all do reports on various types of llamas. Libby knows what she's doing and I can write the report. That's still half and half, so it's being more than fair."

"This is a kid. You have to be involved or it's not fair at all," As though sensing the sudden frustration in the room, the doll started crying. Cindy picked it up and started rocking it until the cries subsided. "I'm going to go ahead and take her back to Libby for you. You can get back to your 'more important' work." Cindy exited the lab through the front door. Jimmy looked at Goddard.

"I get an odd feeling she's not upset about the assignment. Why can't girls just say what they mean? We'd been doing pretty well about not fighting lately. I guess I could take this more seriously. But I mean, it's just a toy."

Goddard whined and cocked his head at Jimmy. "What? She's not really working with Sheen all that hard." Jimmy suddenly softened. "But I guess they are at least splitting the work. I'm not taking this seriously enough. All right, I'll meet up with Libby after that Mommy thing..."

* * *

After dropping off Hedy with Libby, Cindy headed over to the Estevez's house. Sheen answered the door before Cindy could even knock. "What have you been doing all day, Ultra Dork?"

"Eric and I watched three episodes of Ultra Lord and then worked on our battle skills."

"Battle skills?!"

"Yeah. He's not very good at it, though. Couldn't hold the sword right. Well...not actually a sword. It was supposed to be an energy sword – as seen in episode 487, Clash of the Mitans – but it was really just a broom. I couldn't figure out how to position his arms so the broom wouldn't slip."

"You are a complete bonehead," Cindy said with disgust, pushing her way past him. The doll was propped up in front of the couch, an Ultra Lord mask on its face. Cindy grimaced before taking the mask off.

"I fed him and changed him. Be careful, I gave him beans for lunch."

Cindy immediately checked the doll's mouth. There was just a simple key that was popped into the mouth to simulate feeding, but she wouldn't put it past Sheen to have actually attempted to spoon feed beans into the mouth instead. But, to her surprise, it appeared clean.

"Actually, I pretended it was beans. I figure a key doesn't taste that good."

"You were actually taking care of him."

"Wasn't that the assignment?"

"Yes," Cindy said slowly, "But you actually...you did a good job. I mean _you_ did a good job." she considered her words momentarily. "All right. You're not a complete loser. And I'm sorry for what I've said before. You're ...you're more than trying here, you're actually a good father."

"I had a good example. I'm just trying to be like my dad. Oh, and I read to him. He likes Little Bunny Hop Along. I don't think he liked Goodnight, Lune."

For once, Cindy was actually seeing Sheen as a person. She'd put up with him before for Libby and Jimmy's sake, but she'd never considered the possibility that he was someone who was worth her friendship. _I must be going out of my mind, _she thought. "Um. I'll bring him back tomorrow so we can do more of the questionnaire."

Sheen shrugged. "Whatever."

Cindy grabbed the doll and hurried out, almost slamming the door behind her. "Maybe he's not so bad," she told the doll. From inside the house, there came a loud scream.

"AWW, MAN, YOU CAN'T INTERRUPT ULTRA LORD FOR NEWS, I DON'T CARE HOW BREAKING IT IS! SHUT UP ABOUT THE FIRE AND GET BACK TO THE SHOW!"

Cindy sighed. "Then again..."


	4. Ultra Dad

"Ok, and now stretch up towards the sky," Carl had not only come up with the idea of the Mommy and Me play group, he was now also leading it. He'd talked the girls into doing some yoga with the dolls and had even brought yoga mats for the occasion. They were at the park, Carl insisting the air would be good for the dolls. Cindy's point that the dolls didn't even have lungs had apparently been lost on him.

"Carl, did you really just have these lying around?" Cindy asked as she followed his lead, stretching the doll's hands towards the sky.

Carl nodded. "I have to have extra, so I can rotate the washing. These things trap all sorts of dirt," he counted each thing on a finger, "skin cells, hair...that stuff." Cindy and Libby both eyed their mats apprehensively before taking a step off of them. "Oh, don't worry, I cleaned both of those this morning."

Libby and Cindy both hopped back onto their mats. "How's everything going with you guys?" Libby asked as they changed poses – a back stretch with the baby doll on their back. "I can't say Jimmy's exactly a dream to work with. No offense, Cindy."

Cindy rolled her eyes. "None taken. Nerdtron's being a total jerk about this assignment. I mean, when Sheen's a more attentive dad then you, you're probably failing."

"So things are going better with Sheen?"

"They're not going terribly," Cindy refused to admit that Sheen was actually doing quite well. "That's all I'll say."

"How about Nick, Carl?" Libby asked, taking the doll off her back before assuming a sitting position.

"He lets me do all the work. It's okay with me," Carl cuddled his doll closer. "Brad and I can get by without him!"

"You're supposed to let him do half the work," Cindy pointed out. Carl considered monetarily.

"I thought I'd write my paper as the experiences of a single dad."

"That wasn't an option!" Cindy was starting to get concerned. She liked Carl well enough and didn't want to see him fail.

"I don't see why not," Carl put his glasses back on (he'd taken them off when the yoga had started so as not to break them). "Single parents exist. Plus I don't want Nick to get all the credit for my work." He looked suddenly worried. "Is that not being fair? Am I tearing our family apart?! What if Brad never gets over his father leaving!"

"Breathe, Carl," Libby patted him on the back. "But it's not a terrible idea. I mean, if you're doing all the work you should get all the credit. It's like the story of the Little Red Hen."

"Mom says I shouldn't eat chicken if it's not white throughout. I might get some sort of infection."

"That was not her point," Cindy explained. "It means that Nick..like Jimmy," she muttered the last part under her breath, "Is not making any effort to help you. You told me he's answering questions but mostly letting you take the lead. How is that helpful? I'd say you both should write your papers with the assumption the dad hasn't done any of the work."

"We should give them another chance," Libby said softly. "Maybe they don't realize what they're doing is wrong?"

"Puh-lease," Cindy crossed her arms. "When have you known Neutron to admit he's wrong about something?"

"Libby!" came a call from across the park. Cindy, Carl and Libby all whipped around to see Jimmy dashing their way. He doubled over when he reached them, panting with the effort. "I'm sorry I haven't been putting in enough effort. I'll try to do better."

"Maybe she thinks it's too late," Cindy scowled at him. "do you honestly think that coming here makes any difference after you kept trying to blow her off?"

Libby put one hand on Cindy's shoulder and then one on Jimmy's. "Cindy, he's trying. Jimmy, we can keep working together but only if you actually put in more effort. I'm not doing this alone. Kids are a big responsibility."

"Do any of you understand that these are just dolls?" Jimmy asked, grabbing Hedy from Libby and studying the doll.

"Is Goddard?" Libby asked.

"What? This thing is nothing like Goddard! It's not nearly as complex, I mean it's just a small microchip that imitates crying and needs."

Even if it was lost on Jimmy, Cindy could see Libby's point. "Couldn't someone theorize that Goddard is just a simulacrum of a real dog? Of course you'd disagree, because you love him. But the whole point of this is that you're supposed to treat the doll like a child. And if you can't love your kid, Jimmy..." Cindy trailed off.

"I guess you're right," Jimmy extended a hand to Libby. "I promise I'll put in more effort. I know it's not a real baby, but I guess I have to start treating it like one. Maybe we should stop spending time separately and work on the assignment together?"

Libby grabbed his hand and shook firmly. He winced but tried to pretend it hadn't hurt. "Agreed. But if you mess it up, Jimmy, I'm letting Cindy be the one to take care of you. Get it?"

"Got it."

"Good. I'll meet you at your place in an hour."

"An hour?" Jimmy looked bewildered. "Why don't we just go now?"

"Because it's the baby's snackie time, that's why!" Carl interrupted. "I made fruit chewies for the girls and blended spinach for the babies."

"Yeaaah, I'm just gonna go now. See you later, Libby."

Libby and Cindy watched Jimmy go, Libby with a smile and Cindy with a look of apprehension. "You're worried about this because you're scared he won't be a good dad." Libby paused but didn't give Cindy a chance for rebuttal. "Don't you think you're looking too far ahead in the future?"

"Hey, you never know. Plus I need to know now if Jimmy's worth it in the long run. I mean, if he can't handle a doll, how's he going to handle a colicky five month old?!"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again – you are ill, girl."

* * *

"I am out of my mind," Cindy said mostly to herself as she knocked on the Estevez's door. Sheen answered but before she even came in, Cindy launched herself into the spiel she'd practiced. "Okay, I'm not your favorite person and you're not mine, but you've actually done a good job – though I really hate admitting that – and maybe we should start working together instead of doing everything by halves. Well?"

"Okay."

"Okay?! I spend all that time explaining everything and you just answer with okay?!"

Sheen considered for a moment. "Is all right better?"

"Oh, just point me in the direction of the baby."

"Dad's watching him. In the kitchen." Sheen pointed the way and then indicated for her to follow him. She was about to get on Sheen's case about pushing the assignment off to someone else when she actually saw Mr. Estevez with the doll. He was holding it close and rocking it.

"Mi bebe, mi amor," Mr. Estevez sang softly, "I hold you now until the morn. And if you wake, mi corazon, know I will be here, siempre..."

Cindy stopped in her tracks. She had been about to insist on giving the doll back, explaining that he wasn't Mr. Estevez's responsibility. But he looked so happy right now. "He used to sing that song to me when I was a baby. He stopped when I was four...until mom died. Then he started it again when I couldn't sleep."

Cindy was taken aback at Sheen's bluntness, but also moved by the scene. "Should we just leave Eric with him? I mean...he looks pretty happy."

"We'll give him a few more minutes. Let's work on the questions."

Cindy nodded her agreement, then pulled the questionnaire out of her backpack. "Question six, is nature or nurture more important? Explain your answer." She considered for a moment. "Nurture"

"Nurture," Sheen had answered at the exact same moment as Cindy.

"Okay," Cindy said, more than a little surprised she and Sheen were on the same page. "Let's get through more of these." She fired off question after question, and strangely realized that most of the questions that were legitimately about child care and had nothing to do with Sheen or Cindy's outside rolls they actually agreed on. They blazed through most questions, until they reached the final one. "Do you think your partner would make a good parent? Why or why not?"

Mr. Estevez came into the living room, finally ready to return the doll. "Is everything all right kids? You suddenly got very quiet."

"I have some thinking to do, Mr. Estevez," Cindy got up and pulled Eric gently towards her. "Thank you for watching him."

Cindy practically ran for the door, but paused on the front step after she'd closed the door behind her. She knew her answer for whether or not Sheen was a good dad – it was a resounding yes. Her concern right now was that she had no idea how Sheen would answer the same question about her.


	5. Levity

**Author's Note:** A lot of the last chapter had to be guess work. Sheen's never been given that much responsibility in the show (I mean, he got the ship in the original movie, but after that he seems to primarily play the role of the distraction). I just feel that given how great of a dad his own father is and his loss of a mother, he'd find this assignment more important than he usually does. But right now I want to make jokes, so here's a breather chapter. This is very short because I am tired (It is 2 in the morning. I have to get up for work at 5. I do stupid things sometimes) and like I said, this was mainly to get some jokes in. Also on the 2 in the morning note, thanks for letting me know I somehow updated this story with the wrong chapter. My head is not all here, apparently.

"So, class, I hope you're all doing all right with the assi-gn-mment," Miss Fowl had to speak as loud as she was able – half of the dolls in the class were currently crying. She made a mental note to never try this experiment again. She was relieved when the bell rang, even though it set off almost all of the remaining dolls. "Time for recess, everyone out!" she practically pushed each child out the door. "Never doing this again, never ever doing this again," she wrote it on a post it note and stuck it to her desk. She doubted she'd need the reminder.

Jimmy and Cindy went off to help Carl on his English assignment (a poem documenting History, something that required both geniuses' talents). Libby attempted to find something to do before Sheen waved a hand held gaming station in front of her face. "It's calling to you...it has your name on it."

"Very cute, Sheen."

"No, I mean literally. It has your name on it, see?" he turned the system around so she could see the bottom of it. "I had it engraved," he held up his own system. "And mine says Ultra Lord."

"Why doesn't it say Sheen?"

"I don't understand the question." Sheen gave her a blank look, then motioned for her to follow him. He led her to the side of the school building then plopped down. "Let's play. Please?"

Libby reluctantly took her system from him. "All right. What game?"

"Ultra Lord versus Ultra Fiend, the fourth game in the series of seven!"

"You told me there are only six in that series," Libby almost smacked herself. The fact she knew that particular bit of trivia distressed her.

"No. Seven. This is the one that was only released in Uruguay, so in America it's only six." Libby sat down beside him and turned on her system. "Ok, so we're linked up to each other but we both have to play as Ultra Lord because he only had a side kick for two episodes but most true fans pretend he never happened. So you're the blue copy of Ultra Lord. You have ice powers instead of plasma cannons. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Libby muttered under her breath. Figuring Sheen's game would keep him too distracted to be on guard, she decided to ask some questions. "How's it going with Cindy on the assignment?"

"Ok, I guess – watch out, those green things spit fire."

"They're frogs, why do they spit fire?!"

"In episode 853, The Frog Planet of Plasma Sev-"

"Ok, don't actually want to know. Seriously, though, how's it going?"

"You never told me."

"Told me what?"

Sheen glanced up from his game for a moment. "That beneath everything, Cindy might actually be a human being."

"And what did you think she was?"

"I was leaning towards lizard person at first, but harpy seems more accurate. That's the bird one that squawks at you before ripping you to shreds, right?"

"She's my best friend. I know she can be abrasive-"

"I don't know what that means, but I'm guessing that it means she's a jerk."

"Ok, yeah, sometimes. She's gotten a lot better, though. Remember how she used to treat Jimmy? Now look at them," She nodded her head in the direction of Cindy, Carl and Jimmy.

"No," Cindy was hitting her palm against her head. "THE DALAI LAMA IS NOT THE SAME AS THE ANIMAL! AND THIS POEM IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT AMERICAN HISTORY, WHY ARE YOU EVEN BRINGING THIS UP?!"

"You were saying?"

"Well, she's not yelling at Jimmy, anyway." the pair watched as Jimmy intervened to calm Cindy down and comfort Carl. Cindy seemed to immediately relax at his touch and smiled at him.

Sheen finally returned his gaze back to his screen, seeing the words DEFEAT! DOUBLE CROSS BY TEAM MATE! He frowned at Libby.

"Hey, you weren't paying attention and you were in the way of defeating Robo Fiend. Had to destroy you to get at the bad guy."


	6. Father Knows Best

"So how's it going for you guys?" Jimmy asked as he shouldered his doll and patted it awkwardly on the back. He'd promised Libby more effort, but he couldn't help feeling lost on this particular assignment.

"Probably better than you," Sheen answered. His doll was currently with Cindy. Carl had, for once, actually put his foot down and insisted Nick take the doll (well, in reality he had shouted "I need a break for once, okay?! It's my turn to take naps and watch my soap operas!")

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Oleander told me that Bolbi told him that Butch told him that Brittany told him that Nick told her that Miss Fowl told Arnie that Libby said you're not doing a very good job."

"Could you repeat that?" Jimmy gritted his teeth.

"Okay. Oleander told me that Bolbi told him-"

"Not that! The part about me not doing a good job! I am Jimmy Neutron. Do you know what that means?!"

"That you have a big head?" Sheen suggested.

"That your parents named you James but we all call you Jimmy and that your hair is all tall?" Carl chimed in.

"It means that I always get an A. This is a collaborative project. If Libby tells Miss Fowl I didn't pull my weight, I'll get a lower grade! Gentlemen, this will not stand. It's time to get paternal."

"I don't know, Jimmy," Carl looked worried. "I think I had that once, and it took a whole lot of medicine to get back to normal."

"Paternal just means 'father'."

"Oh. I don't think that's contagious."

* * *

"All right, son," Sheen was marching in front of his doll, pacing back and forth. The doll was propped up on the couch, the Ultra Lord mask back on as well as an Ultra Lord onesie. Sheen was quite proud he had managed to find the latter. "We've worked on your battle skills. You have watched enough Ultra Lord to understand what it means to be a hero. This assignment is almost done, and by the end we must prevail! You will defeat all of the other children. ...I'm not sure combat will actually determine grades, but we must be prepared!"

Cindy sat on the couch, occasionally looking up to roll her eyes at the scene in front of her. She was working on her side of the presentation. While the questionnaire and the chip inside the doll would determine a large portion of their grade, twenty percent of the final grade would be the oral.

"Have you even worked on your presentation?" She finally asked. She hadn't spoken much since she'd gotten to the Estevez's. Mostly she just worked to distract herself.

"Yep."

"Really?"

"Nope. Probably just gonna wing it."

"I get ten percent off of my grade if your part of the oral is not good. You need to work on it! If I get less than an A, I will kill you and not a judge in this world would convict me."

Sheen shrugged, then propped Eric back up. "It's okay, Eric's going to win the baby fight."

"That is not a thing!"

"Well, how else do we determine which parents did the best job of raising their baby? Besides, ours is the cutest."

While Cindy was touched by the sentiment, at her heart she was a realist. "It literally looks like every doll they handed out in class."

"Nope. This one has a slightly lighter shade of brown hair than the others."

Cindy looked closely and was more than a little surprised to see it was true. "How did you even notice that?"

"You guys say all my Ultra Lord figures look the same, but it's not true. For example, Ultra Lord when he was mind controlled by Robo Fiend was black with red trim. When he becomes the champion of the alien planet Doomicus he was black with gold trim."

"Okay, so you have a special talent for recognizing traits in dolls."

"THEY'RE NOT DOLLS, THEY'RE ACTION FIGURES!"

Cindy wondered momentarily if it was possible for her eyes to fall out from rolling them so often. "Whatever. We've got all of the questions done – even if we don't agree on some parts. The oral is the only part left to do."

"Yeah, but we're not supposed to work on that together. It's each of our opinions, right?"

The fact was, Cindy knew he was right. The problem, though, was she wanted to know what he'd thought of her in this assignment. She was more than a little scared it would be less than favorable. She hadn't expected him to be listening well enough to the assignment's description to realize he had no obligation to share his opinions with her before the fact.

_I guess I'm just going to have to hope for the best_, she though, resigned to the idea.

* * *

"Try it again," Libby had been mostly encouraging, but now her tone was getting sharper. She once again demonstrated taking the diaper off the baby and replacing it. "See? Not that hard. If you can build a robot like Goddard, this should be easy for you. It's not rocket science."

"Rocket science is a lot easier," Jimmy muttered under his breathe before attempting to remove the diaper. He couldn't get the sides open. In the corner, Goddard snickered and played some country song called "Mr. Mom". "Not helping, Goddard."

"It's velcro. Just pull the sides."

Jimmy got it off this time, shook the diaper out and then attempted to replace it.

"That's much better this time," Libby said kindly. "But -uh-each leg goes through a seperate hole."

"How is this so difficult for me? I can recite pi to 67888 places, but I can't put a diaper on right?!" They were in the Neutron's kitchen, and Libby took this opportunity for a snack break.

"You got any Flurp? It's gonna be a looong day." She checked the fridge and found the soda, which she places on the table. "Where do you keep the cups?" Jimmy pointed to the cupboard and she took out a cup for each of them, pouring the soda and pushing one at Jimmy. "We'll keep trying."

"But Oleander told Sheen that that Bolbi told him that Butch told him that Brittany told him that Nick told her that Miss Fowl told Arnie that you said I'm not doing a good job."

"Since when do I really talk to Arnie? That's just the rumor mill. Remember how much trouble that got me in when I listened to it when we were all on that news show? You're trying. I mean – who gets parenting right immediately?"

"Jim Jam! Libby! I just came in for pie," Hugh greeted the kids, then headed for the fridge to dig around. "Ah! Cranberry Grape. You kids want some?"

"No thanks."

"I'm good."

"Hey, dad?" Jimmy stood up. "How were you at being a dad when I was first born?"

"Well, Jimmy...well, let's see. I passed out on your mom when she gave birth to you. They actually ended up giving me an epidural, too!"

"Not that far back, dad. I mean when I came home."

"I lost you once in the super market. You were in the cart, and then you weren't," Hugh frowned. "One of the scariest days of my life, actually. Turned out you were still in the cart, you just had stood up and flipped into the other part of the cart. Oh, and you cried a lot when I held you. But you let me tell you all about ducks."

"So you weren't a perfect parent right off the bat?"

Hugh chuckled before taking a large bite of pie. "I'm probably not perfect now, Jimmy. Like last week I blamed you for that lamp I broke. Trying to make one of the ducks fly – but you know, it is winter, they're supposed to fly south."

"Mr. Neutron," Libby put in, "We live in Texas. That's pretty far south."

"That was you?!" Jimmy looked outraged. "Mom took away my jet pack for a week for that!"

"Uh-oh, look at the time, I gotta go...somewhere else! Have fun with your project, kids!"


	7. Ultra Babies

**Author's Note: **Sorry this took so long. Had to move rather suddenly. I have previously spelled Britney as Brittany, and it looks like I was wrong about that so her name was corrected here. I will go back and correct the first chapter some other time. Thought we'd give some quick pop ins on some of the other pairs.

It was a bright Sunday morning, and Judy was carefully pouring herself a cup of coffee when the baby doll started crying. Again. Judy jumped at the sound, spilling some of the coffee over her hand. She sighed and grabbed a dish cloth to wipe up the mess, wincing as she did so. There was still a half a cup left, and she figured that would have to be enough.

"Did you need help, dear?" Judy entered the living room where Libby and Jimmy were trying to calm the doll down. She smiled pleasantly at the kids, but she was actually quite irritated. Hedy seemed to always be crying when she was at the Neutron's and Judy was starting to get a massive headache.

"No thanks, Mrs. Neutron," Libby called over the doll's cries as she inserted the feeding key in the doll's mouth. The doll finally quieted. "Sorry if we're bothering you."

"No trouble," Judy smiled even as she lied. "How much longer will you be doing this, Jimmy?"

"We turn her in tomorrow."

"Oh thank goodness." Judy said in relief. "I'll leave you two to it. I've got to start making that pomegranate dragon fruit pie for your father."

"Sure, Mrs. Neutron. Sorry again about bothering you."

"It's all right, dear," Judy lied again, retreating to the kitchen.

"I think we're just about wrapped up with all the questions," Libby wrote a note down, then flipped the assignment page over. "All right, so I guess all that's left now is to work on our oral presentation, which we can do separately."

"About that," Jimmy gulped. "Umm...what will you be saying about me? I've been trying, but holy Heisenberg, kids are tough work!"

Libby smirked. "This isn't even a real kid. It's a doll."

"I know! How much harder are the real things going to be?! I don't think I'm ever going to have kids. Sheen's better at this than I am."

"Maybe."

"Maybe? Cindy's actually told me how the assignment's going. She said Sheen's doing an amazing job. _Sheen_ is going to get a better grade than me! I have entered the Twilight Zone, Libby! I am going to get an F! Jimmy Neutron does not get Fs!"

Libby waited for Jimmy's ranting to subside. "Ok, you did get an F that once when you were in Timmy Turner's universe-"

"Because Crocker thought I was Turner!" Jimmy shuddered.

"And, there's a reason Sheen's doing so well."

"I know, he's a good guy and he's trying really hard."

"Well, yes, that too..." Libby pulled out her cell phone and started typing. "But then there's Ultra Lord Babies."

"I'm not following you."

Libby turned her phone screen in Jimmy's direction. There was a video loaded, and she tapped the play screen.

_Ultra Lord, fighting evil is its own reward!_

_Ultra Lord, but now he's fighting of a different sort!_

_Oh yeah, he's turned in his sword!_

_Now he's building a pillow fort!_

_Ultra Lord is taking care of babies_

_Making sure that they don't get rabies!_

_Three orphans from outer space_

_Now he's going to help them to find their place_

_Don't know what he's doing _

_cause he's a new daddy_

_Even harder than fighting a baddie!_

_Ultra Babies, gonna teach him about love!_

_Ultra Babies, the gift from above!_

"How much longer does it go on like this?" Jimmy groaned. "That is the worst rhyming scheme I've ever heard. And what is this? I've never even heard of it!"

"That was just the theme song. Keep watching."

On screen, Ultra Lord came through a front door of a large, two story white house and stretched his arms wide.

"_Ultra Babies, I'm home! Ultra Babies?" _Ultra Lord picked up a note and gasped. _"Oh no! The baby sitter I hired...kindly Mrs. Dneifobor was actually Robofiend in disguise! He stole my babies! Ultra Dad will not stand for this! I'm coming kids!"_

"Please turn this off," Jimmy shuddered. "That's even worse writing than Ultra Lord usually has. What was that?"

"Ultra Babies lasted one season, from 2004 to 2005 and was -"

"How do you know this?"

"I don't, I'm on the wikipedia page. Let me finish," Libby shushed him before continuing. "It wasn't very popular and the network it was on only finished out the season because they'd paid for the rights for it already. Then it faded into obscurity. Because no one cared about it – not even most die hard Ultra Lord fans."

"Except Sheen, because he is the _most _die hard Ultra Lord fanatic." Jimmy finished for her. "But what does that have to do with this assignment?"

"One," Libby ticked the reasons off on her finger, "Sheen tries hard to emulate Ultra Lord in all things. He has this _Ultra Lord Babies _on Blu Ray. He actually _likes _this show. And you and I both know Sheen, if he sees it on tv he thinks it's real."

"Yeah, he was in those casts for six months after he tried to emulate that one Tom and Jerry episode..."

"Exactly," Libby ticked off another finger, "So he's copying what he saw on the show, and believe it or not Ultra Lord _is _a good dad in it-" Jimmy started to interrupt. "No, I'm not telling you how I know that and we are never going to discuss it again. Secondly, he's probably filling in anything he didn't learn from Ultra Lord with what he learned from watching _his _dad. And last, this is a doll."

"It being a doll should make this all easier, but it doesn't."

"Not for the rest of us, no. But have you seen how much care he takes with his dolls?"

"Action figures," Jimmy corrected.

Libby put her hands on her hips. "Not you, too! Look, dolls, action figures, I don't care! They are molded plastic that look like human forms. I have seen Sheen spoon feed his action figures before. I have seen him wash them in the sink while singing to them. This whole project was practically tailor made for Sheen to succeed."

"I guess that does make sense," Jimmy nodded his agreement.

"So stop worrying so much that Sheen's going to beat you. And even if he does, so what? Sheen deserves a win every once in a while."

"Yeah. But...Libby? You're not going to say that I was really bad at this, are you?"

"Just wait and see, Jimmy."

* * *

"You can't hit the baby, that's not how it works!" Britney had grabbed the doll, which had been named Heinrich, from Bolbi.

"In my country, we slap babies with herrings when they cry! Is proven method for whatever ails you. See? Right now, Bolbi sad," Bolbi gave an over exaggerated expression of a sad face, his lip jutting out and even tears starting to form in his eyes. Then he slapped himself upside the head with a herring. "See? Now Bolbi happy!"

"You are the worst partner ever!"

* * *

"You're a constantly not changing diapers bully, and that's the worst kind!" Butch said irritably as he changed the baby's – Spike, as he had dubbed it – diaper. Oleander hadn't avoided changing the diaper, it was just that Butch was constantly correcting whatever Oleander did. Butch had helped with bringing up his little brother, so he knew more about small kids than Oleander did. Of course, for the most part Butch shoved Spike at Oleander and then would take off. The first day, Butch had used Spike as a football. When Oleander had protested, he'd found himself thrown around instead. Butch sort of went back and forth between being excellent and not caring.

"Worst partner ever," Oleander muttered under his breath, hoping Butch wouldn't hear him. "Just one more day..."

**Author's Note: **Yes, the Ultra Babies theme song is supposed to be horrible. Just be glad you don't have an actual tune in your head for it, it's even worse that way.


End file.
